biking is so cool

Sophie wanted to bike to the waterfalls. We didn't make it, but we did make it to a creek that she could splash around in. Afterwards, we celebrated our trip with chocolate ice cream.

Babar: scary, snake in bathroom: not so much

Sophie has an odd sense of what is scary and what is not. The other day we were watching a Babar video. Within the first five minutes or so, Babar's mom gets shot and dies. Not cool. This made Sophie all kinds of nervous and uncomfortable. A few minutes later, she asked me to turn off the video. It seems, in part, that what most scares her is breaking up her very hetronormative family. After the Babar's mom dies, she asked about the dad, to which I had no answer. This didn't relieve any of her anxiety.

Today as we were biking in the forest, we stopped at a little break area that had a porta-potty. Inside the porta-potty was a huge-ass, black snake. Really big, really black. I think it was a southern black racer. This didn't seem to phase Sophie too much. I finally had to walk over and take her away from the outhouse because she just watched as some guy tried to lead the snake out of the little building as I kept calling her name.

Likewise, nighttime or thunder doesn't seem to phase her. Whenever I get books that talk about the kids being scared of the thunder or dark, I just make something else up. I don't think she realizes she's supposed to be scared of these things, so no need to plant ideas.

honey bunny

best fair ever

Yesterday we went to the regional fair. It really wasn't the best fair ever, rather it was a great deal all things considered, but that's not a very grabbing title. The fair was free, which is the first time I've ever gone to a fair without paying for parking and an entry fee. But I must say, I would have been probably pissed had I had to pay to get in and even more so to park since the rest of the fair was fairly lame. Free seemed like about the right price.

We bought Sophie a $20.00 bracelet for all the rides she could ride until we couldn't take it anymore. I think she rode on about ten rides, getting progressively more daring. The best part was that there were no lines, most the time she was the only person on the ride--a kid and parents' dream.

After some rides, we watched a creepy parrot show. The parrot guy was missing a few marbles and not in a funny way. Again, great since it was free, but it would have been sucky had we had to pay for it.

Their "petting zoo" was something of a misnomer. None of the animals was particularly furry and cuddly. None could be petted very well and none seemed to want any affection, especially the porcupine. And really, who puts a surly porcupine in a petting zoo?

By three in the afternoon we were all melting. It was a somewhat humid 92 degrees, but since the fair was in the middle of a big parking lot, with the hot asphalt it felt more like 100+. We drove away happy and content that we only had to experience that once a year.

dream update

Sophie told her grandma this morning that she didn't have any dream last night.

When I was younger, I used to be a lucid dreamer, which meant that I never had bad dreams. It will be interesting to see if Sophie has the same ability. I was a DILD, a dream induced lucid dreamer, meaning I would realize I was dreaming and be able to control the outcome of the dream. If you have ever read the story Interrupting Chicken, my lucid dreaming experiences were very similar. If a dream started getting scary, I'd sort of step in and change the outcome. That was a very convenient skill to have. Unfortunately, like many people who are lucid dreamers, these skills faded with adulthood.

Hip Hop

Sophie impressed both the desk clerk at day care and her grandma when she introduced the latter:

"Dis my J.J. here. Dis my hip-hop grandma."

Dreams

We are reading a story about a boy who is dreaming that his toys come to life. Bo Peep and assorted robots and dolls gambol across his blanket and onto the floor. There is a train rolling across the floor.

"These him's toys?"

"Yes."

"Why dis him toys? Why dis come up?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's dreaming. Do you dream Sophie?"

"Yes. But dis don't come up."

"Your dream doesn't come up?"

"Yes, dis don't come up. I think dis come up but then dis don't come up."

"You wake up..."

"I think dis another place but then I'm snug in my bed."

She nods wisely, and continues:

"Yes. And sometimes I think it's a place I've never been and then I'm snug in my bed."